Google rolled out the Android 15-based Wear OS 5.1 software to the Pixel Watch 3 and its older siblings earlier in March 2025. It’s the latest update since the initial rollout of the Android 14-based Wear OS 5 version in September 2024. That same month, the brand paused the process because Pixel Watch 1 and 2 users reported their devices getting stuck on a blank screen. The rollout resumed in November.
Last week, the LTE models received Wear OS 5.1. It could have been a solid upgrade, if not for meddling bugs now tormenting all eligible devices. Some are reporting issues, sluggish connections, simple tasks turned difficult, and slowed down syncing.
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Wear OS 5.1 disrupts notifications and syncing on smartwatches
A user on Reddit kicked off a wave of complaints and described how Google’s March Wear OS 5.1 update caused frustrating issues with their Pixel Watch 3. They reported terrible connectivity between the watch and its dedicated app that made it impossible to edit watch faces without the app crashing.
Syncing with Fitbit has also become noticeably slower, and notifications are delayed, which defeats the purpose of even having a smartwatch for real-time alerts. Judging by the responses, they’re not the only ones dealing with these problems. Another user shared how their watch struggles with brightness.
Even with adaptive brightness at its maximum level, the screen stays dim for up to a minute when exiting Always-On Display. The watch insists the brightness is fine. Clearly, it’s not and it happens with stock and third-party watch faces applied.
Since Google hasn’t commented on these issues yet, you’re once again left to fend for yourself. In the absence of guidance, it didn’t take long for some PW3 owners to perform a factory reset. If you’re wondering, it actually worked. As expected, a factory reset wipes the watch and removes any corrupted data from the update.
However, it demands the sacrifice of your data and settings. Worse, if the core problem lies within the Wear OS update itself, the relief might only be temporary. If you’ve decided to try it anyway, go to the Settings menu on your Pixel Watch and navigate to System > Reset and unpair watch.
Related: You Can’t Repair A Google Pixel Watch 3
A long wait ahead for Wear OS 5.1 bug fix
Wear OS 5.1 introduced some notable upgrades this year. If you’re in the US, you now have access to the Loss of Pulse Detection feature, and Google has also enhanced menstrual health tracking, step count accuracy, and sleep monitoring. With the bugs overshadowing these improvements, it’s hard for anyone to appreciate the progress.
What makes it worse is that Google recently switched to a quarterly software update cycle for Wear OS and moved away from its monthly patching schedule. That means, no more frequent bug fixes and you’re in for a long wait until June when the next update is scheduled. Hopefully, the recent issues are an exception and receive emergency attention.
In the meantime, hold off on updating your smartwatch if you haven’t already. If you have, try various troubleshooting steps before resorting to a factory reset. First, restart your watch. You can also try clearing the cache of the Wear OS app on your phone. If none of that works, keep an eye on Google’s community website and the subreddits for any changes that could help.
